by Susan Mattern | | Friendship, Human Connection, Istanbul, Life, Travel
Rick Steves, the travel expert, wrote an editorial in the LA Times last year. His message was: “Afraid of terrorism? Get on a plane!” We are so bombarded by reports of terrorism that we forget that most people are just like us –– not just in the...
by Susan Mattern | | Birds, Empty Nest, Life
My birds have gotten out of hand! I seem to be on the edge of ecological disaster in my backyard –– too many nests and species all crowding together. When my children left home, never to return –– as children ought to do –– I did feel like an empty-nester. But...
by Susan Mattern | Jun 11, 2018 | Atheist, Finding Purpose in Life, Surviving Trauma
I had been a Catholic my whole life, and a nun for six of those years. It wasn’t until a mountain lion attacked my 5-year-old daughter, standing next to me in a stream, and almost killed her, that I wondered for the first time whether there was really a God....
by Susan Mattern | | Life, Writing
Who are you? How do you define yourself? Some people can combine what they love and what they do. Teachers, photographer, lawyers, or artists. Others are defined by what they have to do to make a living. Are you defined by what you do or love—or by what happens to...
